I do notice the difference with even a few hundred watts. That's the thing that took the longest to get used to. Boost is very good, but since it's usually accomplished by power sharing, you don't really need it on every ring, just one in each pair. You can move a pot to the boosted ring and get good response. You don't have to wait for it to warm up, like on radiant electric. I'm having trouble imagining true boost on all elements. Check the manual. It probably means all elements are boostable, rather than that they can all be boosted at the same time. So, okay, you don't have to move your pots, but not a dealbreaker. If it is true boost on all, think of when you'd need that. Boost is faster, not hotter. If you were bringing four pots of water to a boil at the same time, let alone if they had something dense in them to drag down the temperature, I'd bet there'd be so much heat in the electronics that the unit would shut down the boosts, or even all cooking, in self defense.

I'd definitely choose the one with more watts per ring in the base (unboosted) number, assuming a good oven.

Thanks plllog. I actually didn't think about them being boostable at the same time - I was envisioning having the ability to put an additional pot on and use the boost as opposed to moving them around. Sounds like I did get that part right in my head! If I am understanding you correctly though, the boost is nice but isn't really a must have feature? I currently have a gas cooktop and each of the burners has 15,000 BTU's. It was a huge improvement from what I had previously and I like having the additional power on each burner. I think I read that the induction equivalent is about 2100, making the Electrolux much more powerful than what I have now, but the Viking has less output, making it seem like a step backwards for me.... but perhaps I am wrong in that thinking? I probably need to pay closer attention to how I am using my range currently. I also bought an 1800W portable today, so will play around with that to see if I can get a bit of a feel for the induction.

For info on the Viking induction range, try contacting luv2putt, the GW member who has posted the most about them and who has offered help to anyone interested in them. (I take it you've seen his "Racing Red Induction" threads?)

Boost, as a practical matter, is mainly used for bringing large pots of liquid to a boil and most cooking will be done with the mid-range to lower settings.

Picking up on plllog's point about boost being "faster, not hotter" consider how often you need your car to accelerate from zero to sixty in 3 seconds? Another way to put this: how often do you think you will need to get skillets and saute pans very quickly up to lead-melting temperatures and how long do you need to have them stay there?Purely as an aside, and as I understand it, the problem with having all induction burners "boostable" at the same time goes well beyond overheating the electronics (although that certainly would have to be addressed). The biggest issue will be the size of the huge power draw when you have multiple burners all pulling 3500 watts or more and the large cost of the industrial electrical cabling needed to manage that power. For example, Cooktek makes a restaurant induction range with six 3500 watt burners which all can be run simultaneously full at full power, and that this range requires a commercial, three-phase 400 amp power circuit. Then, consider that many homes have 200 amps in total for all electrical needs.

I'm thinking of getting the Wolf, which claims more than the Viking, but less than the Electrolux with:

(4) 8", 2100/3000
10.5", 2600/3700

But its boost specs for the large element are WAY less than some competitors (like KitchenAid=4800, Thermador=4600).

I like the idea that it has 4 hobs that are the same so I don't have to worry if I'm putting the right pan in the right place.

Is that difference between a 3700 boost vs a 4600 boost just going to mean that it takes 2:30 for water to boil instead of 2:45 (or some other ridiculous numbers)?

LOL! Good point JWV! I didn't even think through the electrical service side of it.

Sherri, induction handles so much differently than gas that it's really not worth comparing BTU's to Watts. The reason for making the conversion sometimes is that it makes it easier to figure out how strong a hood fan you need. That too is a very rough thing because with gas you have to also remove the byproducts of combustion, hot air, etc., so need a bigger fan than the equivalently powered induction. And if you mostly coddle eggs on induction, and never fry or stir fry, your power requirements are even less for your hood.

The portable induction unit will show you how well you like controlling the heat of the pot rather than the heat of the environment, but because of the wiring difference, it's a pale experience compared to using an 1800W element on a built-in. Keep that in mind if you find it a bit underwhelming in the power department.

Boost is a must have feature. Boost on every element is not. In general, there's power sharing. That means that the boost takes power from it's partner(s) to push the boost. So if you have a pot on a small element where you've set water to boil for rice, and put a pot of soup on the medium element and boost it to boil, the power level on the small element is going to go down to simmer and it's going to take a long time to boil. Instead, you can boil the water, add the rice, stir, cover, reduce to simmer, then put on the soup and boost. There should be enough residual heat that you don't need the small element to be on for the rice to cook anyway, and there will still be a simmer going. Some units give all the power to the boosted element and shut off the paired one, but most do the simmer thing.Each unit has a different arrangement. Mine has a big double ring, a medium and a small. They all can be boosted, but not all at once. The small and medium are paired, so you can boost one or the other. There's a medium, though slightly less powerful than the other one, element in the center of the big double ring. When it boosts, it takes the power meant for the outer ring, which is not in use. When the outer ring is engaged, it boosts from all elements (4400W), meaning it puts the small and stand alone medium out. Because I have a small cooktop (24"), it doesn't have as much cooling or airspace, though the same amount of power as the 36" one of the same design. The airspace underneath gets hot fast, so when I want to bring a big stockpot full of spaghetti sauce on the double ring back to a boil after a long simmer, with nothing else cooking, there unit won't boost. Sometimes, it'll just turn itself off to cool, but I've learned to open a drawer to let the air circulate. Yes, it has the 4400W, but I only really get to use all of that when I'm starting a pot of water for stock or something and everything is cool.

I could put a fan in an open drawer to help with cooling the electronics, but it's not such a big deal. Again, more watts is just faster, and when you're cooking something for five hours a few minutes more is no big deal. It'll come to a boil on setting #7, and possibly lower. It'll boil a lot quicker on #9, but that might still take half an hour from a simmer. Boost makes it boil fast. :) Boiling a little water for tea, however, or a little more for pasta, is when you'll really see it making a difference.

There's an old thread with a test I did several years ago (linked below if the link maker worked (it's acting crazy again. URL: http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2249140/boiling-water-efficiency-question). The tables are screwed up from being imported into the new system and it can't be edited, but you can kind of read around it and understand. What isn't clear in the way the second test (at the bottom of the thread) is worded is that the lack of mass in the stock pot was what kept the outer ring from engaging. It was a race, however, and I didn't compare similar strengths of gas and induction. So I just did a much less controlled test of the 12,000 BTU gas and 1400 Watt induction ring (no boost). The Induction took half the time, but I'd have to control the starting temps of the pans and water better, as well as the timer, to make it a true test.

Okay, I think I am a bit overwhelmed. It looks like I will have to learn how to cook all over again. So I think I understand the need for a boost, but not multiple boosts.

JW - it was the racing red induction post that got me onto the Viking to begin with!! The electrical restrictions may be the deciding factor as I live in an old house, and as my contractor says, anything is possible but at a cost. While I don't mind the financial cost so much, I will be really unhappy if my house has to be ripped apart for too long. I know, I know.... All in the scheme of things!

Barb, having 3 sizes the same sounds advantageous to me as well. Probably one of the reasons that I like my current cooktop - it doesn't matter which burner I choose as they are all the same.

plllog, thanks for all your comments. I appreciate all your time, and I will take a look at the link later tonight. I hear what you are saying about watts vs btu's, but what do I use as a reference point? I'm confused that 1800 plug in is different than 1800 built in. But, happy to hear that built in is better!! Also, if the higher watts are not necessarily used as much, perhaps I should be focusing on ring size with one higher watt instead?

New question: is there huge learning curve, or is it pretty easy to adapt? Actually, just tell me that I will go from mediocre to chef and I'll be sold!

Have you ever used radiant electric? Or do you look at the knob to know your flame height? If not, there's a bit of a learning curve. Do you ever use a charcoal or wood fire? Barbecue or camping? Feel the heat of the pan to know when it's ready? Then no real learning curve at all. You have to learn the controls, and some new habits, but the cooking cooks. :)

The 1800 W portable is running on 120V. The built-in runs on 240V. I believe the difference is exponential rather than additive, but do ask one of the techies/physics nerds for a thorough explanation.

Sherri, it's no problem at all. I'm bad at brevity, and good at typing, so I tend to write all of my thoughts and let those who don't want to read them scroll on by. :)

Things to learn: Always clean up spilled crystals (e.g., salt, sugar) immediately and thoroughly because they can scratch the surface, which creates a weak point where the glass can crack. That's easy, though, because you can use your sponge while your pot is cooking, including lifting the pot to clean underneath. Caveats: Dry the area under the pot if your sponge is wet or it'll boil and pop. Be careful where you put a wet sponge in a hot zone (like under a pot) because the water can transmit the heat to your fingers. Don't slide shake the pan on the surface of the cooktop in case there are a few escaped crystals.

Nowadays, you should be able to lift and saute (jump) your ingredients without the element turning off. Check the manual. It should give you five or seven seconds, or something. Because the elements go on hold when you lift the pan, you can't lift it to reduce the temperature rather than turning down the heat. Instead, go right to the controls. The response is very fast. If you leave your pan untended (without moving it or changing the controls) the unit will probably turn off, so if you're making spaghetti sauce, give the temperature a wiggle while you're stirring. :)

I think cookware makes a big difference. Some people are very satisfied with $100 cookware sets. I already had a collection of LeCreuset enamelled cast iron, which is fabulous and doesn't whine. I have a couple of pieces of high end clad stainless which I mostly use for browning meats (or, I should say for ease of cleaning after). They're heavy and work very well. I also love thin carbon steel crepe pans for eggs because there is such a fast reaction to temperature changes. I don't care for lightweight and coated pans for other things, but different people with different cooking styles do. Remember, it's the pot that cooks your food with induction, not the heat source.

A good, reliable and even heating stove, plus a good pot has the potential to make you a better cook. Pleasure in cooking has even more potential to improve your cooking. Pleasure in cooking that is comfortable even in the Summer leads you to cooking more because it's enjoyable and practice can do more than anything to make you a better cook. :) (And there is a Cooking forum here if you need pointers.)

Barb,

The speed of boiling is important when you're heating up a huge pot of water. Like several gallons. The cup for tea experiment was just for comparison's sake. On the old household gas cooktop that came with my old kitchen, I'd put up a couple quarts of water to boil before prepping anything and might still need to wait after I'd finished a complete mise-en-place. Depending on the temperature of the kitchen and water, it takes up to five minutes, maybe, to boil a couple of quarts of water on the induction on 3300W boost. About the time it takes to open a box of pasta and take out a colander. I do most of my prep first, and just do a few last minute things while boiling water. I don't even want to think about how many hours the old gas took to boil a stockpot... That's the easiest thing to compare, of course, but follows into the rest of your cooking.

Is the difference between a 3700 boost vs a 4600 boost just how fast it boils? Pretty much. That's a significant difference, but if you're making a soup or stew, you probably want to wait for it to boil on a lower setting, like #7 so that the flavors have time to develop and meld, and you have time to stir. The result will be a lot better than if you crank it up to 9+boost. It's the base number that is more important. I notice a significant difference between my 1800W and 2200W.

1800w is 1800w whether 120v or 240v.

To me, boost is one of those things like the fast acceleration metaphor that I would have and would kinda miss if I didn't. But since most units have it, it isn't a deal breaker. It is also a temporary setting in that it goes away in a few minutes. For those units that use power sharing it takes power from the other hob while boosting (the other hob goes to no more than half power or may shut off).

With my CookTek 1800w unit, I do most of my cooking at %50 or less. What I found early on was that at higher powers I tended to scorch things. My tri-ply pans heat quickly and stay hot.

These are some of the most helpful comments I have read on induction. I've been using a single hob for three years, almost exclusively, because I love the responsiveness of induction. My biggest impetus to remodel is to have a full induction cooktop!
Boost does not seem useful other than to bring a very large volume of liquid to a boil quickly, so one good "booster" should be adequate. Almost everything else will be cooked at medium or lower. Just select a medium setting if that's what you anticipate will be where you want the temp and wait several seconds. You'll see the response. If you hit it with "boost" you will likely scorch your food before you can even lift the pan up and hit "off" or a lower setting. If you start on a non-boost higher setting, don't turn away because you'll be at scortching temp in no time. Not much of a learning curve at all as long as you develop a habit of not starting with too high a setting.

I think another important feature is how LOW you can go to get a nice controlled simmer or melt butter or chocolate and hold the low temp. I've decided that will be more important than whether I have to wait an additional 10 seconds to boil pasta water. I think Electrolux may give you more lower temp control.

Absolutely true. No need for a double boiler with induction.

I have to echo 12crumbles. I am blown away by the thoughtfulness and helpfulness of these comments. Thank you all so much.

I've never worked with radiant heat, and for the most part I use the knob setting vs flame setting so I expect the transition should be easier? I'm thinking I should buy extra of all my ingredients to account for the scorch factor though! I have a couple LeCrueset pots, a LeCrueset kettle and a pressure cooker that will work.

Weedmiester, thanks for the info re 120 vs 240. I did some more searching and found that 1800W is the max for a regular plug in unit, which I guess is why most of the portables are less. I am trying mine tonight for the first time - so excited!!

Sherri -- for checking out induction by using a portable unit, and discussions of induction cookware, you might want to look at this recent thread if you have not already seen it.
http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2324992/portable-induction-cooktop-and-cookware

Also, as weed says, 1800 watts is 1800 watts whether you are using that capacity burner on a 240v range top or on a 120 volt portable induction burner.

However, there can be several other differences between induction portables and stove-tops which may affect how you perceive induction when testing it out with a portable. Off the top of my head, the three that may wind up mattering the most are the diameter of the induction burners, how well (or crudely) the electronics manage the heat cycling at lower heat levels, and the number of heat settings for individual burners.

The diameter of the element is related to how big or small a pan you want to use when you need heat evenly spread across the entire base of the pan. Bear in mind that, for induction, it is the pan base that gets heated and pan bases may be smaller than the nominal pan size. Take, for example, a typical 12" skillet. That's the diameter measured across the top of the pan. The sides flare down, of course, so the base will usually be around 9 inches in diameter. There's a rule of thumb that, you can get even cooking heat all across the entire bottom of the pans up to one inch larger in diameter than the induction burner.

So, a 12-inch skillet should heat fairly evenly on an 8 inch or larger induction burner. It will be fine on an 11" or 12" burner, too, even though the base is not actually that big. But, when using a big pan on smaller-diameter burner, the base within the burner's induction field may be hotter than the area beyond it. How much of a difference this makes will vary with the pan construction and how much you stir your stir fries. (This makes no real difference for boiling water and liquids that will not scorch). The flip side of this is that pans must be a certain size and mass to be recognized by a burner. For example, depending on the manufacturer of the induction unit and the construction and design of the pan, you might or might not have trouble getting a large 11" induction burner to recognize, say, a 1 quart-capacity 5" diameter saucepan. Usually, you will want to put that smaller pan on a smaller burner.

Where this comes into play with testing out induction is that burners' induction field sizes can vary a great deal between models and types. Many portable 1800 watt induction units have induction coils that are about 4.5" in diameter and produce a field that is maybe 5 to 5.5" in diameter. On induction ranges, most smaller 1800 watt burners are 6 inches in diameter. (I think there are some Electrolux/Frigidaire/Kenmore freestanding ranges that have a 5" burner rated to handle pots as small as 3.5" in diameter.) On the other hand, the induction element in Weed's Cooktek portable is (IIRC) about 8.75" in diameter with a field that goes out to 10" in diameter. So, while a 4.5" diameter 1800 watt burner puts as much energy into a pot of water as a 10" diameter 1800-watt induction burner, the pancakes you cook in a skillet on the 10" burner may be more evenly cooked than on the 4.5" diameter burner.

Another area where induction burners/hobs differ is in the way they cycle heat on and off to provide lower temperatures. The technical term for this pulse-width-modulation. Basically, it means that the burners pulse some heat for a short term and then are off for a bit so that the average heat is where you want it at a simmer or low boil or whatever. Most built-in cooktops and stovetop induction burners, as well as Weed's Cooktek portable, do the cycling with such high frequency and short pulses that that the heat is indistinguishable from a steady state of heat at the desired level. That is, the induction field is turning on and off for fractions of seconds, many times a second. ITs a bit different with most portable induction cooktops and a few built-in units which use much cruder, much broader pulsing for lower heat levels. As a result, you may see pulse-boiling with smaller quantities of liquids. No big deal for, say a quart or more of liquid. But, with, say, a cup of water in a 2 qt. saucepan on a portable induction burner, you likely won't see a smooth simmer. Instead, you'll hear the unit come-on for a couple of seconds, watch the small amount of water briefly come to a boil and then subside as the the burner cycles off for 5 seconds. No big deal for oatmeal but maybe a problem if you want a delicate simmer for sauces or for holding melted chocolate. This is a difference to bear in mind when checking out induction with portables. I'm recalling that we had a recent thread where several built-in induction brands or models were identified that also had this problem. I can't find the thread at the moment but my recollection is that it was mostly induction products from Whirlpool (inclduing Kitchenaid and Ikea) that exhibited this behavior in built-in cooktops.

A third consideration is the number of burner heat settings. For some people 9 or 10 setttings is all they need or want. If they ever want a heat between setting 1 and 2, they are happy to punch between them as needed. For others of us, though, ten is too few and too crude. Many 1800 watt portables have between 7 and 10 settings or steps, although some have alternate temperature scale settings which allow you to more or less interpolate between the numerical setting. Most built-in cooktops and ranges have 15 to 20 or more steps, which allows for better control at lower heat levels. (The Cooktek 1800 watt portable that I used for a while had 27; IIRC, Weed may have one of the more advanced Cooktek portables with 100 settings.) This will matter to some and not others. Checking out a portable induction unit will help you decide whether you need 20 settings or are okay with only 10.

One additional consideration when testing out induction with a portable unit: even though rated at up to 1800 watts, most portable burners will not actually pull more than 1500 or 1600 watts. So, besides having smaller elements than stove-top induction burners, the portables will be a bit less powerful than the 240v units. IIRC, the larger burners in the Cooktek 1800W/120v models are the exception --- have been tested and to show that max power does, in fact, pull 1800 watts.

The thing about this last point is that, if you are fine with how your portable burner performs, you might be okay with Viking burners. (As you doubtless know from luv2putt's thread, I really liked the layout and options of it but balked at the price.)

Anyway, these are some things to bear in mind when testing out induction with a portable unit and also when choosing an induction range for yourself.

As for the learning curve, follow plllog's suggestions and you'll be fine. Seems to me that the thing most troublesome for induction novices is in realizing how fast things can get hot. when starting low, you'll find that heat can be adjusted upward so quickly that you will see in very short order what is too hot and the heat ramps down so quickly that you easily avoid scorching or burning. You will very quickly learn how much is "enough" for the particular burner.

I also wondered how easy it would be to adapt after years of using gas. Much easier than I thought! Only a couple of times did I catch myself bending over to see what the flames looked like! We are only at the kitchen with induction a couple of weekends a month right now, but I'm starting to get pretty good at predicting the setting to use. My husband loves it, too. Neither of us had heard of induction before reading about it on GW several years ago, but our new house is in the boonies with no natural gas and this way we didn't have to add propane or deal with storing it just for the cooktop.

(The only downside is that it makes me swear at my gas stove every time I have to clean it...) Well, that and having to replace some of my favorite non-magnetic stainless with some DeMeyer versions, but one of the kids is going to get lucky when we move.

Sherri, yes, it's easier to adapt if you're used to using the knob setting rather than peering at the flame. Most units nowadays have numbers that go from 1-9 with halfsteps. That's 17 levels. Some also have shortcut buttons for the top, bottom and middle, and things like that. If you make a mental picture of a knob where 9 is High, Boost is past High, 1 is Low, and 5 is Medium, you can figure out where the intermediate numbers are. If you can just change your mindset on heating up pans, you're all set. You do still need to heat pans, and though some people don't, I still set a couple of notches higher to heat up then turn down to my cooking setting, but don't turn your back on it or you'll overheat your pan. If you cook with butter, don't turn away to do something while it melts, or it'll be brown and separated when you turn back. If you wait to cook until you're ready to cook, you shouldn't scorch things. You might also take that into consideration while designing your kitchen. The whole prep while you cook thing doesn't work so well. :)

JWVideo, thank-you for the thorough technical explanation. I don't have a good background in these things so repeat what I've been told, including the thing about the voltage mattering. I shouldn't do that. :)

Again , so many detailed and thoughtful responses. Again, many, many thanks! I have so much to think about. I used my portable induction to make dinner tonight (Eurodib 1800) ..... It was a bean and bacon soup. I didn't scorch anything, probably due to the advice I got so far, so that was a plus! A couple things that I noticed: quite a bit of difference between each setting (I have 10 heat plus 10 temp but only used the heat for the first go-round). Noisy fan - but I understand the range or cooktop is quieter. I didn't boil anything over, so I have no idea how easy or difficult it is to clean. I'm sure that will change though. :) I also noticed I pay more attention to the Inside of the pan than to the flame (or lack thereof), so on a go forward basis I think the conversion to induction will be easy for me.

I can see that the low simmer is going to be better, as is the upper range, get to boiling faster, but in-between, is the actual cooking that much different / better than gas? Is it about the extremities, ease of cleanup and safety? Or is there more that I will discover with use? And will I discover with the portable or really only understand by using a built In?

We've had our Electrolux Icon induction cooktop for about 6 years now.

At first, I used the boost for actually "More of a Game", just to see how fast it would boil water. It is soooo fast, even without the boost, that I bet we haven't used it in 5 years now. The induction cooktop is usually "waiting for me", instead of the other way around!

Had I wanted a range, rather than a cooktop, and had the Viking been out at that time, (2006), I certainly would have bought it!

Good luck with your pending choices, it's pretty hard to go wrong with any induction cooktop or range now, alto Electrolux did have some "Nasty problems" with their Induction Ranges a few years ago~~~strange as Electrolux Induction cook tops have been pretty much trouble free, except for the Hybrids~~~~which they no longer make.

Gary

cooktop

The portable will help you decide if you can live without flames and to accustom you to lifting before shaking, not lifting for cooling, etc., and most of all not scratching with salt on a less expensive unit. :) 10 levels isn't bad, but 17 is better. Most don't publish what those levels mean, exactly, so it's hard to compare your portable #1 with the built in you're looking at buying. Some might just not go down as low or up as high, but since you're noticing a big jump between settings, I think that may not be the case. (Can I just tell you how relaxing it is to make toffee on #1.5 instead of worrying about getting scalded with a double boiler?) I find the transitions with 17 levels to be quite smooth and comparable to gas. Sure, gas is infinitely adjustable, but in practical terms the heat isn't much different ootch to ootch, so the half steps are good enough to give the steps where one wishes to be.

How much is the actual cooking different from gas? In terms of heat, not at all. Perhaps the setting position, but not the heat of your pan. For a medium low pan to saute an onion, the pan is so hot when I hold my hand over it, and know it's time to put in the oil, and this hot when it's time to put in the chopped onion. Same on a gas fire, an radiant electric burner, a woodstove, an open campfire. Cooking is cooking. The extremes, as you noted, are where the differences lie.

What is different in the middle is reaction time. Upping the heat is probably comparable to a high powered gas burner, but lowering it has a must faster reaction time. That's why people lift their pans off the gas when they reduce the flames. So the pan can cool some more quilckly than it would down in the hot air and flames.

Regarding "quite a bit of difference between each setting" --- that's pretty much the deal with having only 10 or fewer induction burner heat settings.

"in between, Is the actual cooking that much different/better than gas?"

Nah, cooking is pretty much cooking. I was going to write more but I see plllog has already covered a lot of what I was going to talk about.

Let me say that from going from gas to induction does not require learning a lot of new concepts. I mean, its not like the learning curve for "real" cooking in microwave ovens back when those devices started to get wide use back in the previous century. Neither does using induction involve any of the exotica of managing heat on wood and coal-fired stoves (a skill that some of us chronic old farts picked up in the dark ages back in the previous century and with which we now annoy the grandkids' children.)

Also, keep in mind that "gas" covers everything from bargain priced Crosley
and Whirlpool ranges with 4 small 9k-btu burners on up to very
expensive, pro-style mega-stoves. Generalizations about "gas" might
not be meaningful for everybody.

I can think of maybe three other minor differences for the mid range cooking temps for sauteing, frying, and stove-top braising on induction.

One is, as you've already started to learn from working with the Eurodib unit, induction is so efficient at heating that you may find yourself having to use lower settings than you might expect. Second, because induction tends to bring pans to heat faster than other kinds of burners, maybe you want to be a little gentler with preheating some pans, particularly vintage cast iron pans. (Although lots of folks are fine with blasting their CI pans on high to preheat for searing, we did have a thread here three or four years ago about some $$$$$ vintage/antique CI pans cracking when heated too hot too quickly on induction.) Third, also because of the relatively rapid heat-up times, you might need to adjust some pressure cooker recipes for a little more pressure time to make up for the shorter time-to-pressure on induction. (If you do much pressure cooking, you might want to check out Laura Pazzaglia's advice on hippressurecooking.com about adapting PC recipes for induction stoves.) That's about it.

Use boost to attain a boil not to maintain a boil. If you don't lower it it will boil over.

It is hotter and faster. Try boiling on 8. Difficult if not impossible. Be simple, folks. Tmi.

Re what JWV said above: When I'm heating a heavy pan for searing (LeCreuset enamelled cast iron or Demeyere stainless clad) on my 2200W ring, I do it on #7 or maybe #7.5, never on #9. If I'm browning ground meat, I turn it down to about 5.5 or 6 before putting the meat in, or the meat will overcook before all of it is browned. For a roast, I'll leave the setting as is. I might go higher on the stainless if I were in the habit of flash seared and raw in the middle steaks, but I never pan cook things like that. I use the broiler. And I don't know anyone who likes that crunchy on the outside barely cooked at all on the inside that has been popular recently.

JWV also touched on frying. That is a slightly different method. Put down newspaper (or plain newsprint if you have it, so the print won't transfer) or, really, you could use come-ons for insurance and credit cards. You could crank up your unit hot enough to burn the paper, but it'll probably make your oil split too. Even before it starts to smoke, oil goes weird. At normal frying temperatures, the paper is fine, and using waste paper to catch the spatter makes clean up so much easier!

Microfiber cloths, the ribbed kind that feel like they're sticking in your fingers' ridges, feel awful but do a great job cleaning up that which tries to smear on the surface. Dishwashing liquid, in my experience, unless it's the kind with build in handlotion, works great with it.

Wow. I am learning so much more than I ever expected here - and I was expecting a lot having spent so much time lurking. I did notice that the temperature settings that I used yesterday were lower than what I expected them to be for the heat that was generated which leads me to think that choosing a cooktop may be more about the configuration than it is about watts. I forgot that people mentioned using paper under a pot but I thought that was a product of the "it's new / I don't want to mark it" phase. I loved that it was so easy to clean!

Thanks jwvideo for the tip about pressure cooking. It didn't occur to me that I would have to adjust a recipe for induction. My pressure cooker is also a new toy, so at least I don't have to re-learn that as well!

A paper towel or parchment paper really is a good idea. Though clean up is very easy there are some dribbles or splatters that should be cleaned sooner rather than later if they aren't caught by paper/parchment. Sugers, high suger content foods are some. There are some cleaning agents that shouldn't be used because of the chemicals. I've been using a spray of 50/50 vinegar/water since I read about it in several places. It really works.

The thing about pressure cooking is that you'll need one compatible with induction. Many less expensive pressure cookers are aluminum and won't work. Fagor makes some stainless pots that should work. For a big pressure canner you may have to look at something different, some use turkey fryer burners outdoors for this.

Heavier cast iron works well with induction but there is a thing called 'thermal mass'. Being heavier the heat-up/cool-down times are longer. Tri-ply stainless pans are quite a bit faster.

You don't have to buy expensive replacements, but your all-aluminum stuff will have to go.

Weedmiester, I have recently purchased two new pots. One is a WMF pressure cooker and the other a 14 litre Silga stock pot. Fortunately they both say they can be used with induction. All of my Calphalon, however, will have to go, but that gives me the excuse for new cookware!

Sherri -

A couple of tips you could try when testing your WMF PC on your Eurodib portable induction unit.

First suggestion: if you have any trouble having the WMF hold pressure on the Eurodib, try using the "power" scale to bring the WMF to pressure but then switch to a "temp" scale setting of 250F for maintaining the pressure. (The 250F temp setting was suggested to me 3 years ago in a thread --- one I cannot find at the moment --- discussing the problem of power setting "2" being too low to maintain high-pressure and "3" being too high on pressure cookers on portable units without half step power settings.)

When the PC's pressure indicator button rises to display the ring for high-pressure -- if memory serves, that would be the third ring on the WMF pressure indicator button -- reduce the power setting to "3" (which keeps the pressure from too quickly rising into an overpressure venting). Immediately switch over to the "temp" scale to select 250F as the temp. That should hold the PC at high pressure without overpressuring it. (The reason for the two-step process on my Max Burton is that the MB drops heat almost immediately within a setting scale but takes about 15 seconds to register a reduction when switching to a different scale such as switching from "power" and "temp." The higher pressure is not dangerous with spring valve pcs like the WMF because the excess pressure is readily vented --- but the steam can be be annoying as can the WMF's vent's tooting sound --- an irritating noise intended get your attention to reduce the heat.) Don't know if the Eurodib models have the same delay as the MB. If not, you can switch over to the temp scale right way and skip the first step.

Of course, this technique won't carry over to an induction range or built-in cooktop (other than Cooktek built-ins) because: (a) ranges and built-ins available in North America use only numerical power settings -- hopefully with half-step power settings; and (b) they do not offer the alternate temperature scale. Also, understand that "temp" scales on portables are not like oven temperature settings. Instead, the induction "temp scales" are merely aspirational targets that help a user pick a heat setting that is somewhere in the area of the heat he or she wants. Some people find the temp scale more intuitive than the power scale. The temp settings really function as variations on the numerical power settings and, hopefully, interpolate between the whole number power settings.

I don't recall whether or not anybody tested this technique with the combination of a Eurodib portable and a WMF PC. However, it does work for both my 6 quart Kuhn Rikon and my 10 quart Fagor PCs
on a Max Burton portable unit. IIRC, the Eurodib and MB are similar enough that this technique may well work with the Eurodib.

A second suggestion: use the timer function on the portable unit when you are busy and subject to distractions. In effect, this can give you the fire-and-forget convenience of a standalone electric PC for those times when you want that convenience while, at the same time, allowing you to keep the greater versatility of the stovetop type of PC.

For when you choose your induction stove, though, you are pretty much out of luck on finding one with a burner timer control. Some bult-in cooktops offer burner-timer-control but induction ranges generally do not. Maybe the new Bosch Benchmark induction slide-in? (If interested, download a user manual for the Bosch and see what it says about the stovetop timer.) Basically, if you find that Eurodib works for your pressure cooking, you might want to keep it around after getting your range and use it for those times when you need/want the fire-and-forget convenience of burner timer control.

Is this the thread you were looking for, JWV?
http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2334305/induction-range-yay-or-nay

Yeah, thanks. That's it. The thread is mostly about a lot of other induction range questions, and the post on the "250F" trick came from pcpr_gw/ Paulo almost all the way down at the end of the thread.

Great advice jwvideo. interesting that the cheap portables seem to have more features than the full size models. I'm impressed by what my portable can do after having only used it a couple times.

Bosch has individual burner timers on the 800 and Benchmark cooktops. I haven't looked at the User Manual for its ranges. It's not something that is commonly mentioned as part of specs on websites. I don't think it's even on the Bosch website. I read the user manuals for everything I consider buying because there is more info in them.
My cheapo portable induction hob has degrees as well as just level numbers. I haven't been able to find any full cooktops that allow the choice of degrees.

I did see that Bosch has timers on some of its cooktops. I also got excited when I saw the auto chef feature which states "four temperature settings are available". Sadly, those settings are high, medium high, medium and low, which in my mind are not particularly useful. Combine that with having to use special pans, and a reduction in settings from 17 to 9, I don't think I would be interested in that particular model.